Blair seeks consensus on anti-terror measures

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to discuss new anti-terror measures with opposition politicians in Downing Street.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to discuss new anti-terror measures with opposition politicians in Downing Street.

He will meet outgoing Tory leader Michael Howard and shadow home secretary David Davis, along with their Liberal Democrat counterparts, Charles Kennedy and Mark Oaten. Home Secretary Charles Clarke has delayed his summer holiday to attend.

A police appeal for an extension to the time limit on detaining terror suspects will be among items on the agenda. The Conservatives also want to explore ways of allowing phone taps and other intercept evidence to be allowed in court.

The No 10 summit comes ahead of the Prime Minister's monthly media briefing. Mr Blair is under public pressure after he was forced to apologise for the police killing of a Brazilian man mistaken for a terrorist last week.

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It was confirmed that undercover police shot Jean Menezes eight times at a south London Underground station. Mr Blair confirmed a shoot-to-kill policy was in operation and would continue despite the fatal error.

The talks today follow Mr Blair's meeting with security service and police chiefs last Thursday.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said at the meeting that the maximum time terror suspects can be held should be extended from 14 days to as much as three months. It also backed a public debate over the use of intercept evidence in court.

The Prime Minister's spokesman has said Acpo's recommendations would be considered over the summer and there were no plans to call MPs back early from their 80-day break, although Mr Blair has said that could change.

Yesterday, police said they had identified two of four men believed responsible for last week's failed attack on London's transport system. They are also seeking fifth person after an explosive found in a park was like those used in the attempted attacks.

London's police chief said the force was "racing against time" to find the bombers, who fled three subway trains and a bus when their devices failed to fully detonate. Those bombs and the one found abandoned on Saturday all were made using clear plastic food-storage containers put into dark-coloured bags or backpacks.

Police identified two of the suspects as Yasin Hassan Omar (24) and Muktar Said Ibrahim (27) also known as Muktar Mohammed Said, but did not give their nationalities.

Authorities also released new closed-circuit images of the four suspects and gave details of their movements, recounting how one bolted from a subway station pursued by passengers, while another jumped through a subway window and fled down the tracks.

Police also said yesterday they had arrested two people on suspicion of terrorism in London. Three other suspects are already being questioned at a high-security London police station "on suspicion of the commission, instigation or preparation of acts of terrorism" in connection with the July 21st attacks.

Hundreds of relatives and friends of Mr Menezes marched through his hometown in Brazil demanding the arrest of policemen responsible for his killing. Some of the protesters in Gonzaga held banners denouncing British police as the real terrorists.

Other placards were adorned with snapshots of Mr Menezes and urged Mr Blair to send his body home so it could be buried.

Gonzaga's mayor, outraged over the news that Mr Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder, called the killing an assassination.

"It's easy for Blair to apologise, but it doesn't mean very much," said Julio de Souza. "What happened to English justice and England, a place where police patrol unarmed?"

Agencies